Lawyers representing Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander issued a cease and desist letter to Underdog Sports for a promotion poking fun at the Canadian superstar's penchant to draw fouls, according to The Athletic's Jason Jones.
Underdog, a fantasy sports and prediction company, created a mock version of the classic boardgame Operation renamed "Unethical Hoops," showing a cartooned version of Gilgeous-Alexander with the word "unethical" emblazoned on the front of his jersey and holes labelled things like "head snap" and "push off" instead of the traditional "Adam's Apple" or "Broken Heart."
Underdog partnered with Gilgeous-Alexander's Canadian national team teammate Dillon Brooks in a video to help advertise the game that they were looking to give away in a contest.
In a May 22 letter that Jones acquired, Eric Fishman of law firm ArentFox Schiff LLP requested "that all board games be destroyed and that Underdog not use Gilgeous-Alexander’s name, image or likeness without his permission." Underdog declined to comment on the letter.
Having just won his second consecutive NBA MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander's style of play has drawn the ire of observers who criticize him for trying to make more attempts to draw fouls than actually take shots, citing the fact he's made more free throws (120) than field goals (114) this post-season, even though he's taken 246 field-goal attempts to just 134 free-throw attempts.
Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder currently lead the San Antonio Spurs 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals and have a chance to make it back to the Finals with a win Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360.
